Captured in Time
by Tauria
Summary: Pictures, memories, and... Mandarin?


**Captured in Time**

_Tauria_

It was that time of year again. That time of year in which the team was going through their old picture box. The picture box was exactly what it seemed; a box full of pictures. However, they were more then just pictures. They were memories… most of them ridiculously funny.

So, each team was munching on a cupcake. Though they had been purchased from the store down the street, once they had taken them home, they had been decorated to 'perfection', as Otto would say. Meaning, some of them were covered in sprinkles and candy, and others were a bit more 'refined' in the sweet area.

Regardless, that was just part of the fun for the team. Now it was time to open the shoe box that served as the picture box. It was covered in various phrases the team had put down in bold marker.

Sprx got to draw out the first picture. Wiping the red frosting from his fingers, he pulled out the first picture.

* * *

**Memory #1**

_Otto had dragged Sprx and Nova to help him at the pet store he was volunteering at. Both the red and yellow monkeys were reluctant, but they followed along with the childish green monkey, not wanting to upset him. _

_"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sprx asked Otto as he helped clean the cages._

_"Why wouldn't it be?" the green monkey asked cheerfully. _

_Sprx shrugged, finding it odd that a _monkey _was working in a pet store. "I don't know…" _

_They hadn't been working there very long when Otto decided that he wanted to hold one of the chinchillas. _

_"They're so _cute_!" he said. _

_So they opened the cage, and Otto reached his hand in to grab one of the chinchillas. Once he had one of the furry animals in his gentle grasp, they closed the cage. _

_After a few moments of passing the little guy around, they put him back in his cage, only to have two of the little ones to jump out, racing around on the floor. _

Eventually _they got the little furballs back in their cage, after a lot of chasing around _("They were faster then they looked," Otto said) _and after that, they agreed to leave the cute, fuzzy animals within their cages at all times. _

_After the team heard about this delightful incident, Gibson got it into his head to get the camera footage, and screenshot the picture where the chinchillas had somehow both ended up crawling all over Sprx, causing him to dance around like a lunatic before Otto and Nova calmed their laughter enough to get it off of him. _

* * *

Sprx turned redder then usual. "Why was _I _the one who ended up pulling this one out of the box?"

"Because," Nova smiled sweetly, "the world needs to know you learned your mad 'skills' at a pet shop."

Sprx glared, though it was half hearted gesture.

"Your turn, Otto," Antauri smiled.

Otto grinned, green frosting smeared all over his face. He reached into the box and pulled out a picture.

* * *

**Memory #2**

_Jinmay and Nova were having a girls night out, deciding they needed a night away from all of the guys, to just be girls. Also, Nova was getting tired of Sprx's teasing. _

_"I still don't know how you tolerate the smell," Nova remarked, having allowed Jinmay to pull her into shopping. Not that Nova minded, but she put up a bit of a fight anyway… just because. She had an image to maintain. _

_"It's not all that bad, Nova. Besides… it's such a pretty color," she grinned. _

_"I'll give you that. Still stinks, but at least it's pretty," Nova laughed. _

_Jinmay giggled, admiring the new green nail polish she had gotten. _

_The girls just bought small things, like rubber bands, nail polish, etc. _

_"Ooh, that's cute," Jinmay gestured to the small, toy fox sitting in the window. _

_Nova nodded in agreement. The fox _was _adorable. _

_Jinmay smiled. "You could add it to your toy collection." She said this quietly, knowing that Nova didn't want it getting out that she had a collection of stuffed toys hidden around her room. _

_Only Jinmay and Otto knew about that collection, and the yellow female intended to keep it that way. _

_The two entered the store, finding the stuffed fox collection. Nova picked one up, and the two headed over to the register. _

_However, some of the boys (*cough* Otto and Sprx *cough*) decided it would be fun to follow them, just to see what they did. _

_Sprx got it into his head that the memory of Nova cradling a stuffed animal needed to be captured. _

_Nova had chased him around Shuggazoom for at least three days afterward. _

* * *

"I thought that picture was destroyed!" Nova growled.

"Aw, and get rid of the proof that you have a soft side? No thank you," Sprx grinned cheekily.

"SPRX-77…" she growled.

"C'mon, it's cute!"

Her eyes narrowed.

"And totally ferocious, 'cause, y'know… it's a fox…"

Nova couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. "Okay, okay. We can keep the picture."

"Gibson, it's your turn," Antauri smiled.

Gibson nodded. He stuck his hand in the box, and pulled out a picture.

* * *

**Memory #3**

_Somehow, Chiro and Jinmay had convinced the team to come along with them to see one of their favorite bands in a live concert. Otto and Sprx had agreed right from the get-go. Nova had actually needed to hear some of the songs. Antauri and Gibson… well, the others weren't sure how they were convinced. _

_Regardless, they were all at the concert, and all of them were enjoying themselves… even Gibson and Antauri, who had put up the most fight to go. _

_Once the concert was over, and the team was walking home, they decided to take a picture to commemorate the moment. However, just as soon as the picture was about to be snapped, a paper bag had ended up over Gibson's head. The others were all clueless to how it had happened, and blamed it on the wind. _

_Gibson wasn't quite so sure it had been the wind, but knew better then to accuse one of his brothers (or sister) of doing something without proper proof. _

* * *

"Must we keep that picture?" Gibson glared.

"Yes." Sprx grinned.

"But why?"

"It's _funny_."

"It's embarrassing, is what it is," Gibson grumbled, but made no further protests as Antauri reached in for the next picture.

* * *

**Memory #4**

_Soon after the Skeleton King had been defeated, the team decided that it was time to go and help rebuild the Varon temple, and decide who would be the next master of the order. Antauri was a bit nervous, but they went anyway. _

_Most of the temple had been rebuilt thanks to the magic of the Power Primate and the many Varons who had _not _followed Master Xan down the path to evil. _

_The team spent many days helping them rebuild the temple, and searching for key pieces that had fallen from the structure. Ivy vines and poisonous purple flowers had claimed many of these pieces, but they were all found, and all brought back. _

_Another part that made this trip so enjoyable was that some of the elder Varons had been there when Antauri had trained. Some of them had even been his teachers, and so the team was treated to stories of Antauri when he was younger. _

_Antauri wasn't too happy with this, and nearly every story embarrassed him. The others, of course, found this even more hysterical. Several pictures of an embarrassed Antauri had been snapped, one in which his entire face was red. _

_Everyone thanked the Alchemist for letting his silver body be able to blush. _

* * *

Antauri made no protest about the picture being in the box. This surprised everyone immensely, and they all resolved to make sure that the box was put in the safe that even prevented phasing, and they decided that they would change the combination.

Who knew what plans Antauri would have to destroy the picture?

Chiro drew out of the pile next.

* * *

**Memory #5**

_ "Otto, what in the world are you doing with a knitting loom?"_

_ "Making a doll." _

_ "For who?" _

_ "Somebody. You don't know her." _

_ "Does little Otto have a crush?" Sprx teased. _

_ "No, we're just friends." _

_ "Uh-uh," Sprx said disbelievingly. _

_ Otto rolled his eyes. "I'm going to go give her the doll. Don't touch anything." _

_ "Me? I would never!" _

_ "If one thing is out of place, I'll tell Nova you still have that picture of her with the fox toy." _

_ "…you wouldn't." _

_ Otto just grinned, and left. _

_ Sprx resolved not to touch anything… but he was going to find out who this girl was. He followed the green monkey, only to find that the doll was being given to _Nova_. Sprx waited for her to pummel him because 'she was a warrior and warriors don't play with stuffed toys' only, she didn't. _

_She _thanked _him, and even hugged the toy… and then she hugged Otto. _

_Sprx felt jealously grow in the pit of his stomach. He resolved to outdo Otto. _

_The red monkey headed back inside the Robot, already planning. _

_…._

_It wasn't long before Sprx had the Fist Rocket high in the sky. He was sweating out of nerves, but he knew that he definitely had to do this. _

_It was high time anyway. _

_"Heh. High time…" Sprx grinned slightly at his own wit, despite the fact it wasn't really funny. _

_In moves that he could do in his sleep, he completed various whirls and turns and twists, and eventually, something legible came out of them. _

_…_

_"NOVA!" Chiro yelled from the shoulder of the Robot, where he had been asked by Sprx to call Nova up when he was done. Chiro hadn't known exactly what the red monkey was doing, but now… he was impressed. "COME LOOK AT THIS!" _

_Nova raced to the top, thinking something horrible must have happened. _

_Instead, the sight that she was greeted with brought tears to her eyes. _

_Written in the sky, clear as day, were the words, "I love you, Nova. –Sprx." _

_Chiro snapped the picture of the sky, and once Sprx had joined the yellow monkey, he left. _

_Shortly after, both monkeys announced that they were dating. _

* * *

"_That_ is a good memory," Sprx grinned.

"I agree," Nova smiled.

Gibson grinned. "You know what, guys?"

"What?"

"…I don't understand the differences between now and the way it was before. Sprx still flirts, Nova still hits him. Sprx still acts like a buffoon, Nova still hits him."

"Well, they kiss now, I suppose," Chiro smiled. "That's one difference. And they go on dates. That's another."

"True. But beyond that, it's the same."

"Point taken."

"_Anyway_, whose turn is it now?" Sprx asked.

"Yours."

Sprx reached in to grab another picture, only to be stopped by an orange hand. Looking up, they noticed that Mandarin had snuck in on them.

"Mandarin," he growled. "What are you doing here?!"

"I was let in," the orange monkey smiled delightedly.

"By who? Last I checked, we were done with you when we sent you to the H.O.O.P!"

"The boy, of course."

Chiro grinned at them.

"What? He would never, ever do such a thing!"

Chiro laughed, a malicious laugh that was extremely out of character for the boy.

"No, no he wouldn't," Mandarin agreed. He had Chiro come over to him, and exposed a small bug-looking thing clinging to the boy's neck. It was blinking red. "However, considering I have tapped directly into his brain using special nanobots, then yes, he would definitely do such a thing."

Mandarin let the boy's hair fall back over it.

"Do yourselves, and your boy, a favor, and surrender."

They glared.

Mandarin sighed, and snapped his fingers.

Chiro immediately responded by delivering a lightening kick the direction of Antauri. Antauri quickly dodged, but the boy followed up with a thunder punch, causing Antauri to fly backwards.

The team refused to use force against their leader, though it became clear that they soon would have to, or Mandarin would capture them.

"I knew we should have done something to that orange creep the day that we got rid of Skeleton King!" Sprx growled under his breath as he dodged one of Chiro's attacks.

"C'mon Chiro, we know that you're in there… somewhere!" Nova called, eyes shimmering with worry. She couldn't bear it if they lost him the same way that they had lost Mandarin and had almost lost Sprx.

Chiro growled at her, though the first flickers of doubt entered the sapphire eyes.

That was all the others needed.

They all selected pictures from the box, reminding him of what had happened in each separate picture. The stories blurred together eventually, but Chiro's hesitance was all that was needed to remove the chip.

Chiro blinked once.

Twice.

Three times.

"MANDARIN!" the teenager growled.

Mandarin swallowed.

* * *

**Tauria: **This is my contribution to the game that Grungekitty and I played! (details on her profile… her story is called _A Weird Day in Robot Monkey History_) Mine is not nearly as funny ^.^'

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it anyways XD I had fun writing it! (even if I'm not too happy with the outcome…) Anyways, I hope we'll get to play again CX

Please leave a review!


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